Goodnight John
by alchemic-rose
Summary: A strife with Jack leaves John severely injured, and a weary Rose is left to comfort him in his final moments. JohnxRose oneshot. Sadstuck. Character death. (obviously)
1. Chapter 1

Rose let out a weary sigh as her arms dropped from their defensive position to her sides. The battle was over... for now. She turned with a heavy heart to John's prostrate form lying sprawled on the ground where he'd been thrown. Her face twisted in sorrow as she treaded over to her friend, knowing that he most likely had passed on while she continued to strife. John lay there on his back, head facing the sky with his lanky arms sprawled at his sides. His glasses were missing from his face, though she quickly located them a couple feet away. She walked over to him pausing to bend down and take the frames from the ground; the rectangular lenses were cracked and stained. She cradled them in her hands as she looked back up at John as she slowly walked forward, her eyes taking in the large amount of blood that had drained from his body which pooled around him on the cold ground.

'_Yes… he is already-'_

Her somber conclusion was halted when she saw that his gashed chest moved slightly with shallow breaths.

"John!"

She rushed over to his side, feeling a spark of relief rise in her chest. Her knees splashed in his blood and she knelt next to his subtly moving torso. Hearing her, John's blue eyes cracked opened slightly and weakly peered in Rose's direction.

"…Ro-…s…e?"

The breath of her name was broken and gargled, the tone a questioning one that wondered if her existence was real or if it was an illusion from his pain-filled haze. Rose grimly looked at the state of his injuries as she felt the warm liquid seep into her skirt. The little hope she possessed from him being conscious faded as she saw the extent of the damage that was inflicted on his slim frame. He was dying… bleeding out and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Ro-…"

John's second call cracked and died within his throat, with only the first syllable managing to make its way to her ears. Rose met his searching eyes, as she smiled sadly, her lip quivering.

"I'm here John… I'm here."

Her voice wobbled in pitch as she struggled against breaking into sobs. His head twitched in the crimson puddle, as he struggled to turn and look at his friend. He gritted his teeth and groaned in pain as the attempt to move proved to be futile.

"Ro-..sss"

John croaked out her name again, his blue irises straining to catch sight of her. She bit her lip, and leaned forward into his fading sightline as she brought up her arm to stroke his flippy hair.

"Shhh… I'm here John."

Her vision grew a bit fuzzy and she rapidly blinked away tears that threatened to fall as she continued to stroke his hair, her fingers becoming stained pink with his blood that had dried in his hair.

"I'm here… you- you don't have to talk. Just- … stay still."

Silently, he complied, his searching eyes finally finding her violet orbs. He stared into them, his own eyes holding a storm of emotions, focused intensely on Rose… as if her gaze alone kept him from sinking into the darkness. Her vision blurred again and she furiously blinked away tears once more; only to see John's bloodied lips twitch into a weak smile when her vision cleared... a pitifully weak smile that was a shadow of a bigger smile that he sported on his face so often. It was such a feeble motion… that not even his buck teeth, which loudly declared their presence during his smiles, managed to peek out. Rose's eyes filled with tears again, this time spilling outward and down her strained face. A small sob managed to escape from her lips as she spoke.

"I'm sorry John… I'm sorry… I'm here… it will be over soon."

Her hand continued to brush through his dark hair as she cried silently. _"All I can do is be here for him in his final moments… to make his passing… easier, so he knows that he's not alone."_

Rose wanted to comfort and relax her friend, despite him being in excruciating pain that would soon fade to numbness when his nervous system would shut down. Her mind spun, triggering a memory of something lost long ago… a comforting motion from her mother that used to quell her sobs as a tiny child. Subconsciously, her body recalled it… though she should have been too young to even remember.

Her hand ran through his hair once more, before softly gliding down the side of his face along his hairline, tracing his jaw, and up the opposite side of his face. She drew a finger back up along his hairline to the center of his forehead and down the bridge of his nose. She followed the contours of it, passing over the light freckles that decorated the appendage; traveling downwards from the freckled tip, to the dip of his Cupid's Bow, and to his bloodied upper lip. Fresh blood coated her fingertip like macabre paint as she traced his unmoving lips. Rose felt only a ghost of shallow breaths against her palm as she passed over his relaxed mouth. Her gaze traveled up from his lips, back up to his bright eyes, that grew dimmer and dimmer in each second that passed. But she saw peace within those dulling eyes; he wasn't suffering as much anymore. He wasn't burdened with the thought of dying completely alone. She suspected that his body had also grown numb to any feeling, yet she continued to caress his face. Lifting her crimson coated finger from his lips, she tucked the digit against her palm and extended her thumb, gently brushing it along each of his cheekbones. Moving up along the edge of his eye socket, she moved to trace his eyebrows, stroking them softly, first one… then the other before moving her gaze once again to his clear eyes. The spark in them was fading away, turning the brilliant color to a glassy hue.

"It's time to go to sleep John…" she spoke softly to him as she traced underneath his left eye, in the crease of his dark circle, before moving gently to his upper lid, which closed with a gentle brush of her fingertips. Taking the back of her pointer finger, she brushed it against his eyelashes lightly before moving to the other eye, which stared lifelessly at her. He was gone.

Her jaw clenched and she gently closed his other eye, tracing that lid as well, then brushing those lashes, before moving her hand to sweep his cheeks once more, which had grown cold now that that the life that coursed in them was gone. Stilling her hand, she cupped his icy cheek, and bent down to rest her forehead against his. Tears ran from her eyes and down into her hairline, dripping onto John's still "sleeping" face. Her hand that gripped his broken glasses clenched in her lap as she choked out in a whisper.

"Good-night, John."


	2. Awakening

Rose bit her lip, as tears continued to flow from her closed lids, shoulders shaking as the shock rushed through her. He's dead… _dead. _Drawing in a deep breath she opened her eyes as she began to sit up from her hunched position. It was then she felt that ominous chill return, pricking the hairs on her neck. Eyes wide, she turned bringing a leg up to leap up to defend herself. All she saw was a blur of black, and then she felt her stomach burst in pain as she was impaled by the same sword that stuck down John. She let out a cry before blood rushed up her throat, choking her, and she fell to the ground; her own pool of blood formed, running together with John's. Her body twitched and convulsed as she died slowly, choking on her own blood. Violet eyes stared up at the dark sky, as droplets of black rain began to fall. She gurgled once more then grew limp, her head dropping to the side, blank eyes staring at the corpse beside her. Remnant tears leaked from her lifeless orbs, running across her nose, but they were soon washed away by the rain.

Jack sniffed at the kids' corpses, and once he confirmed his kills, teleported away leaving the bodies in the cold rain. Thunder sounded and black rain fell above the castle as if Skaia herself was grieving for the murdered heroes.

From the deep crimson wound of the Heir, there formed a light that grew and grew in brilliance until it covered his entire body. Slowly, he rose, limp and glowing as his wounds retreated. Streaks of rainbow life-force energy tendriled from his body, illuminating the dark rooftop, and Rose's body with an ethereal brilliance. John's face was relaxed, still closed from Rose's gesture, then his chest expanded and he took in a great, slow breath. His eyes slowly opened, as is waking from a deep slumber, his slack limbs slowly coming to life as his fingers twitched. He exhaled, blowing out a strong wind that sounded across the land. The Heir was alive. The ethereal tendrils receded into him as he floated back down to the ground. His shoes touched the ground softly as he landed, staring blankly outwards for a moment, still waking. Then he shook his head, fully awake now, and brought up his hands to stare at them quizzically.

"I'm…alive?"

He whispered, unbelieving, he was sure he had died. He pressed his hand to his chest and felt around… no blood, no hole, just the same as it had been since his 13th birthday. John turned his eyes from his chest to the ground beside him.

_'Rose…'_

He stared, then dropped his hand from his chest and turned towards her form. Her eyes, half-lidded, stared blankly forward; blood dribbled from the side of her mouth and from the gaping hole in her stomach, her arms and legs sprawled out like a discarded ragdoll.

John felt sick. A knot twisted in his stomach as he felt a deep sense of grief hit him. This was his second friend to die, and he wasn't there to help them. Granted, that was Jade's dream self but still… he felt himself start to cry and he rubbed his face. How was _he _supposed to be the "leader "when everyone kept dying around him?! John wiped his face with his shirt, effectively ridding some of the snot that began to dribble from his nose. He slowly walked over to Rose, feet splashing in the puddles of rain and blood. As he knelt by her he heard a sound, her communicator was beeping like crazy. He retrieved it and read the text, wiping his nose again.

It was Vriska.

Scanning through the messages he stared blankly in disbelief yet again at what his eyes beheld. The blue words were telling him if he kissed Rose it would revive her, somewhat. He looked from the communicator to Rose, then back to the communicator. It was as if he was in the middle of some weird fairytale and he was the prince who had to kiss the girl back to life. He looked back to Rose; his mind jumping between Vriska's words, Karkat's shipping chart, and some of his movies. Was his brain short circuiting? because it felt like it. But Vriska continued to insist.

John put the communicator on, and stared at Rose for a bit longer before reaching to hold her body. Her head lolled lifelessly to the side as he cradled her light form. He gulped unconsciously. Having a dead girl be his first kiss was a little weird, not to mention he had just met her in real (?) life, but if it was going to save her…

Shifting his arm, he supported her neck and leaned in close before halting, his face inches from hers. Despite being covered in blood he couldn't help but notice that she _was_ pretty cute. She had a cute button nose, and graceful eyebrows, and her hair was a pretty color, and her lips were-

_'Shit, I can't get all nervous now...' _

He felt himself blushing a bit, which also felt a little weird because he was kissing a dead girl, and he was in pajamas, and they were both covered in blood and-

John squeezed his eyes shut and leaned forward, pressed his lips to hers.


End file.
